Skip to main content

Facebook rolls out dedicated News Feed for Pages

facebook pages feedAmid the clamor of brands complaining about a dramatic drop in Facebook page views, Facebook has introduced a new stream called Pages Feed. You can now view, exclusively, many of the posts published by the brand pages you follow.

As a method to filter all of the content hitting your News Feed, Facebook has relied on EdgeRank, which aimed to keep out the content your network wasn’t engaging in, while surfacing what was most popular. Unfortunately, brands claim that as much as 50 percent of their content never reaches its fans, and some users are miffed at not being able to see this information.

The Pages Feed is likely an attempt to appease those frustrated with the decreased engagement. Facebook has been trying to strike a balance and keep its marketers and users happy, and it’s increasingly seeming like a losing battle. Dallas Mavericks owner and VC Mark Cuban has been a vociferous opponent to the filtered content, and disclosed that he’s following through with the threat of having his portfolio of 70 startups abandon Facebook altogether. George Takei has an entire chapter in his to-be-released book dedicated to Facebook and the problems with Edgerank. And in the midst of all this, Facebook is experimenting with the new Pages Feed feature.

The Pages Feed tab can be found on the left side of your homepage under Pages and sits above a new tab called Like Pages.

The Like Pages featured is also new to the site. Based on appearances, users on this page can discover new Facebook Pages to follow, and it was probably built with the intention of getting brands a few extra Likes here and there. Recommended Pages can be filtered based on categories including Music, Movies, Local Business, and even Recent Check-ins. Whether or not these efforts will appease brands is difficult to say, although given the extent of the backlash, we’d assume Facebook will have to do more.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Francis Bea
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Francis got his first taste of the tech industry in a failed attempt at a startup during his time as a student at the…
Now that you can easily transfer photos out of Facebook, will you stay?
mark zuckerberg speaking in front of giant digital lock

Facebook on Monday announced a new feature that will begin rolling out in Ireland before spreading elsewhere: The ability to transfer your Facebook photos directly to other platforms without having to download them first. The feature will initially only port your pics over to Google Photos, though it's likely more platforms are on the way.

This is a step forward from Facebook's already-existing data portability tool, “Download Your Information,” which allows a user to keep a copy of everything they’ve ever put on Facebook on their private computer. In a statement, Facebook told Digital Trends that “the feedback we’ve received over the years tells us that although this tool is helpful, it isn’t seamless enough for users to take information directly from one service to another.”

Read more
Digital Trends Live: Facebook’s news tab, TikTok investigated, and more
episode 242 9fc5e2a09509b5613281f31393bb0737 xl

On this episode of Digital Trends Live, hosts Greg Nibler and Drew Prindle dig into the biggest-trending tech stories of the day, including Facebook’s new “news” tab, senators' investigation of TikTok, lasers that shoot down drones, news that HBO subscribers may get HBO MAX free next year, and more.

We then go to Ken Yeung, technology editor at Flipboard, for our weekly Tech Briefs segment, where we recap the biggest tech stories of the past week, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Libra testimony and more.

Read more
Facebook test hides Like counts to help us feel happy, not crappy
facebook housing catalyst front sign headquarters hq offices home fb

A new Facebook test removes "like" counts from News Feed posts in an effort to bring a bit of peace and tranquility to the minds of users. After code uncovered by high-profile app researcher Jane Manchun Wong suggested the network was considering the change earlier this month, Facebook began rolling out a like-count-free test to users in Australia on Thursday, September 26.

Facebook-owned Instagram is already hiding like counts for some users in a trial spanning seven countries, among them Canada, Australia, and Ireland. Discussing the idea a few months ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he wants people to be "less interested in how many likes a post gets, and focus more on connecting with other people.”

Read more